Tasteful Turn
by wons
Summary: It all started with a mysterious message; to be the chosen one and to get to earn easy money by doing as the message challenged. But nothing is free in this world, and she knows it. Fortunately, curiosity kills the cat and she gets trapped. During this time, she gets to meet people she starts caring for and some she doesn't care for... at first.
1. Toodles

''Listen, it'll only take 10 minutes.'' Seeing no change in their expression she tried decreasing the number, ''No, I mean _only 5 minutes_!''

But there was no changing the man. The receptionist said the same thing he had said for the last 4 times of the failed attempt, ''Sorry, miss. Only people with valid access card are allowed to enter, though exception applies to those who have booked an appointment.''

She swears to have imagined the very same receptionist saying the exact same line with the exact same expression to many other for over – who knows – infinite years. The words came out so naturally that she wondered if the man before her was a robot.

A tired sigh escaped from her lips knowing it was no use arguing with a loyal android on duty nor was it appealing getting countless stares from others, and much less appealing getting threatening gazes from the security guards getting activated to play their role if necessary.

In a defeated posture, she fixed her round glasses on the bridge of her nose.

That defeat only lasted a few seconds. Raising her chin and smiling she told the receptionist, ''Of course, I understand your position. It's ridiculous of me to request something so casual. But still, _Harin_ ,'' Ah, saying someone's name always makes them listen, doesn't it?

Harin, the receptionist, showed a change by raising his eyebrows slightly, ''Harin, isn't it? Your name tag says so.''

Harin nodded slowly, curious about what she'll say. It's not everyday strangers speak some mere receptionists name they've just met.

''Great. I'm MC.'' Feeling proud to have caught his attention she continued, ''So Harin, please get my request forward to some higher ups. It's not that I don't believe your words, but maybe your supervisor or someone else in charge may think that it is in fact harmless to let me, a completely and perfectly innocent student, up on this building's rooftop to take a simple picture.''

Guess it was the last draw as she could clearly hear his expression, even though it may be impossible to hear an expression she did at that moment, because when one closes their eyes and clenches their mouth it's a pretty universal sign of heavy and final sighing.

It also meant it was time to say toodles.

A quick goodbye and MC was walking out from the building. When she was outside the doors, and obviously out of the sight from the people working inside, she lifted her hands up in the air and in the next moment on her head – ruffling her hair and screaming internally. To passer-by's she must've looked, no offence, a bit crazy, or just completely crazy. As her act went on for good long seconds she also mumbled her frustrations.

She was interrupted by a horn from an upcoming car on her right. Looking up she realised she was standing too close to the sidewalk and the car seemed to want to stop before the building entrance. Excusing herself, she took a few steps back. The man in the backseat caught glimpse of the peculiar woman before turning his attention back to his notes on his iPad. The car started moving and she proceeded to walk in the opposite direction while fixing her hair.

Now if this were a movie, the car would roll in slow-motion as would she go very slowly. So here as well, as the narrator of this story I would like you to imagine the scene such as. Because… from this point on her life would take a tasteful turn.

A/N: Fun begins at the next chapter :)


	2. Congratz

The rush-hour was over, and the bus was almost empty now. Finally feeling like she could breathe, she opened her eyes to look at which place she was at.

The next place is her stop. _Finally_ , she thought, her stomach was missing her favourite ramen. Being cheap was an advantage in this capitalistic world, but the fact that it filled her tummy _and_ tasted too good made that ramen the best.

As she was about to press stop, she noticed something of high value to the seat next to her. She looked around her, but it didn't seem to belong to any of the 3 people in bus. One was the driver, obviously too busy to come up to her to leave an expensive phone as a gift. Another one was a girl, 4 rows in front of her speaking quite happily on her phone. _Nope, definitely doesn't look like someone who lost their dear iBaby._ The last person sat some rows back with their hoodie on. She couldn't see that well because of the hoodie, but they clearly had headphones on and hanged their head quite low. _Hmm, seems like a tired fellow_.

So, the mystery remained. Oh, and she missed her station.

Getting out of the bus she saw that it had gotten dark fairly quickly because of the clouds. The weather forecast didn't say anything about a cloudy day, in fact it was supposed to be no clouds whatsoever with a clear sky and the moon shining at her.

The darkness channelled coldness, thus there was less people outside. She noticed that the station she got off at wasn't too far away from home. But was she energetic enough to walk back home or the usual lazy one to take the bus back?

As she pondered on the question at hand, she noticed something vibrate. She took out her phone from her pocket, but it wasn't it. _Ah! It must be the other phone_. Thinking maybe the owner is calling she took it out quickly, but she wasn't quick enough, and the call ended.

Alas, it was an unknown number and it was technically impossible to call back.

The plan first thing in the morning was to submit it to the nearest police station for lost items. But if the owner contacts her first and wants it back then she will do that.

She realised it probably wouldn't be easy to return the phone asap either, as the phone had no pin code, no saved numbers, no recent calls, no photos nor apps. It would seem like a brand-new phone if it weren't for an app in it. There was nothing on it but one mysterious app that just wouldn't open.

She decided to end her thinking today and return home. The problem got to wait until tomorrow. As the bus would run after 40 mins she decided it would be better to walk home and be by her bed in 20 mins. Maybe, and just maybe because she needs to stop eating junk food 5 days in a row, she'll stop by her favourite convenience store. She snickered thinking about the store name, she'll never get over how someone or some people sat down and came up with ironically such a convenient name.

In her own world, she started to walk. As she did take some steps forward, the new phone vibrated. Looking up she saw a message.

CONGRATULATIONS!

 _Huh? That's it?_ The message just read congratulations and nothing more. The number was named as UNKNOWN though it is strange how it's possible because no number is saved…

Ignoring it as a spam she started to walk again. But, the phone interrupted once again.

YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE.

''What the bullcrap?'' She said aloud and looked around but then continued to read.

DO AS FOLLOWS TO GET 20 $!

THROW THE EMPTY BEER CAN INTO THE TRASHCAN.

She stood there dumbfounded before huffing a laugh, "What kind of environment beneficial spam is this?"

Though sceptical, she looked around and to her surprise there was a trashcan on her left with lots of trash around. Well, to be honest, trash is everywhere and as much trash there is, there are even more people who are lazy enough to not throw it in the trashcan even if it's literally near their reach.

Ahh how dumb she felt for almost falling for this trick. Shaking her head, she decided to proceed forward to her home. But at the same time, something in her body was making it hard to move forward.

She was curious. _What if?_

Well, curiosity killed the cat as she saw a perfectly empty beer can thrown near the trashcan.

 _What if?_

To get rid of that "if" she casually did as the message told her.

Then she waited, and waited, and waited.

But nothing happened.

"Seriously, am this bored of life?" She looked down and an embarrassed laugh escaped her lips. She hoped if there are any ghosts they would not laugh at her. Actually, rather than ghosts who she cannot see, she would be more embarrassed if some people through CCTV saw her, as humans are more prone to show visibly what they feel.

She put back the mysterious phone in her bag. Wanting to disconnect from the world on her way back she put on her headphones and started playing some random playlist on Spotify.

She was lost in the music and focused on her way back home, so she didn't notice when the phone in her purse buzzed.

…

….

…..

CONGRATULATIONS!

20 $ ARE NOW DEPOSITED IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT.

DO AS FOLLOWS TO GET 40 $!


	3. Hello Idol

It's been months since he has dreamed, or so he says because people say you dream everyday even if you don't remember it. Well, to him if he doesn't remember it's meaningless anyway, and a waste of energy to even try remembering. The only negative about not remembering the dreams is that it feels like he sleeps for a short while. Same dark world when he closes his eyes, then after what feels like 10 minutes, the same identical day to the previous ones starts. The never-ending circle since – well so long that it is now his lifestyle.

In his empty sleeping state, slowly something starts to form in his mind. White starts to appear until he sighs softly and opens his eyes. He realises he probably woke up from the beautiful creature's weight on top of him. It was his cat, Elizabeth 3rd. The cat looked at him with its bright blue eyes. Standing on its fours she signalled Jumin to wake up and then she jumped off him and casually walked to the kitchen.

Jumin drifted his tired eyes to look outside his window and noticed the full moon behind the clouds. It was a pretty sight, but faster than he wanted the bright moon got clouded heavily as the rest of the sky. _The good doesn't last that long, huh?_

The good definitely doesn't last that long. But maybe a brief moment of some goodness is enough to ignore the rest of that life throws at you. MC looked at her bank account and saw 20 $ deposited. It wasn't idealistically a good sign because how the heck did someone even know where to send it? Even more creepy because the sender can't be seen. She sighed a long sigh but decided that free money is better than nothing and whatever this game is, she'll stop playing.

Waking up late in the morning and seeing this was definitely terrifying but amusing and exciting nonetheless. A bit adventurous if she may dare to say. Going on missions and getting reward? Heck yeah, she's up for that. It's not like it's new to her. Her wage depends upon her getting her job done. The difference is, she has no control over this new adventure. Only if it weren't for the fact that it's something that landed on her lap from nowhere, she secretly wants to continue with it.

 _But! There's nothing scarier than stuff that comes to you free of charge + without your knowledge,_ she thought as she planned what to spend these 20 $ on.

As her morning routine followed, she lay down with her phone and checked her various apps for new social media updates. Some cute puppy and kitten video, a few easy to cook and some very hard to bake videos and then many art pictures. Last came the activity of few of the people she knew, living their normal lives and posting some quotes they need to share with the rest of the world.

Feeling satisfied, she stretched her arms above her head. _It's finally time to be productive._ The first thing on her to do list is to leave the phone to the police, and not trouble her life any further.

She was getting ready by wearing some black coloured sweatpants. She was proud to have bought such pretty looking ones at a decent price. They weren't the usual I-am-to-lazy-to-wear-jeans sweatpants, but they gave the I-look-good-even-with-these kinda vibe (at least, that's what she thought). At the same time, she started hearing unusual noises coming from outside her door; a few footsteps going up and down those 2 unsteady steep stairs and noises of something getting put down...

Opening her door a bit and looking through the gap she saw the broad back of someone opening up the neighbouring door. Her mind wandered back to her previous neighbour. They were a couple of many words, _especially_ at night, and she could hear it all because the cheap walls here weren't of much help. Just thinking back on those days gave MC goosebumps.

As she was hoping the current neighbour to not be like them and let her have her sweet sleep, the man standing outside turned back to look.

Their eyes met briefly before she quickly closed her door. Soon enough she was arguing to herself why she closed it in such a hurry.

 _Was she a creep spying on the new guy?! Way to give a weird antisocial impression,_ she thought while stomping on the floor.

A knock was heard on her door. She looked at her clothes giving it an okay and fixed her hair with her hands quickly before opening the door. As she looked upon the person standing before her, she almost stopped breathing.

It was a complete flower boy in front of her. In fact, he was literally wearing a blue rose pinned to the lapel and smelling wonderful. By his tall but thin physique she was almost sure he was a idol, even his hair colour was unusual. But what mesmerised her was his smile.

After a few moments of staring MC still hadn't said anything so the charming person before her opened his mouth, "Hi! I've just recently moved next doors." He brought his hand out for a handshake, and immediately she took his hand but tried to act cool with her expression (because wasn't it enough embarrassment with the staring _and staring)._ He continued warmly, "My name is Ray. Nice to meet you."

 _Hallelujah!_ She internally screamed, _Has the lord finally heard me?! Eye candy in front of me right outside my door as my next-door neighbour?_ She could visualise flowers falling behind him. Careful that she wasn't drooling and creeping him out, she smiled and replied, "Welcome! Nice to meet you. I'm MC."


	4. Blue Eyes

She didn't know a good morning such as hers could make her smile all day. She had been humming happily all the way to the police station and still hummed on her way home.

She was about to enter her apartment when she was called from the side-lines.

 _Out the window goes my happy morning,_ she sighed.

It was the landlady. MC didn't have the best contact with her because of the landlady's manipulative and greedy decisions to get more money.

The landlady approached her and spoke in a secretive tone, "Have you met the new tenant on your floor?"

Being forced to bother with the landlady on her day off she wanted to make it quick, "Why?"

Noticing her dull tone, the landlady shot her a glare. MC sighed and corrected her speech, "I mean I have but why are you asking me?"

"How does he seem?" Ignoring to answer, the landlady asked yet another question.

"Why are you asking me questions like you haven't met him?"

"Because I haven't."

MC eyed the lady beside her suspiciously, "You haven't met your new tenant? Are you serious? Before I had to move here you interviewed me for 100 years."

The landlady smiled with slight guilt, "Don't exaggerate. Your case was different and his is different. I talked to him on the phone and he seemed fine. He even agreed upon paying more than the room costs."

"Really now…" thoughts swirled around in MC's mind. Ray didn't seem to look poor so why would he want to live _here_ of all the places and pay more than required. Well, you can't ever judge someone for their appearance.

Landlady was still focused on to get her questions answered, so MC decided to give her mind some peace, "Well I guess he seems nice and well mannered."

Landlady sighed a sigh of relief, "Good, I was afraid I let some psycho in as my tenant."

"Wouldn't be your first time." MC mumbled and went on her way up the stairs.

"What?!" The landlady shouted but resigned to argue any further, "Don't forget to pay the rent on time!"

"Yeah, yeah." MC said as she walked up to her door.

It was quite on her floor and the new neighbour seemed to have settled his stuff as there was nothing out in the hallway. Shifting her gaze back to her door she noticed it was slightly open. But she was sure to have closed it before she left. _Maybe it's nothing…_ she tried to think. She too could once in a life-time forget to lock in a hurry.

As she walked closer and opened the door carefully, there was nothing out of place. The tiny hallway that gave a direct view of the bedroom/living-room showed no sign of any thief. She walked slowly inside and turned to look in the kitchen; still no one. Though soon she caught glimpse of something moving fast past her feet. Whatever it was came running from the bathroom, straight into the kitchen. Surprised she jumped and shrieked before running out the door and shutting it behind.

 _What should I do, what should I do?_ She tapped her foot thoughtfully on the cemented floor.

"Um..." she turned her head with a start at the source of the voice. It was her new neighbour, Ray.

Ray spoke with uncertainty but kindly, "I heard a scream."

"Oh, sorry if I disturbed you."

"Are you alright?" He asked sounding a tad bit guilty.

"Yes, thank you for asking! It's just-'' MC decided to rely on him for this once because he sounded so willing to help. "I think something's in my house."

"Something?"

"Yes, something tiny and fast."

Ray moved to open the door himself and glanced back once to reassure MC that he'll be fine on this mission. MC nodded back and decided to trust him.

As soon as Ray slowly opened the door, he saw the creature MC was talking about. MC carefully stood on her toes to look past Ray and she too, saw what Ray saw. On her bed sat a white cat elegantly gazing at them with bright blue eyes.

Ray looked back at her and she stared at the cat blankly, "How the heck did a cat get in here?"

She showed no sign to move in and inspect the place or the cat, so Ray questioned her carefully, "It's not yours?"

"No, of course not."

She still didn't move from her spot and they remained there for a few more seconds until Ray spoke up again, "Wait, don't tell me, you're not allergic to cats, are you?"

"No, no," she replied fast, "I'm just not used to them, or like any other animal." Ray waited her to expand her answer and she continued, "Well you know, like I never had any pets or been near them. I've just seen them from afar and they're cute but unfamiliar, and unfamiliar stuff isn't that welcomed in my world."

"Oh" Ray mumbled thoughtfully, "I didn't think tha-"

"Huh?" MC interrupted his quite voice, "It's- it's coming this way!" She cornered herself behind Ray and he looked where she was pointing.

Noticing the cat walked toward them and now was almost near him, he picked her up. MC walked about 2 meters away from him.

Ray smiled, "Looks to me it's a pretty 'she'."

He cautiously took a few steps toward MC and she carefully and slowly approached him too.

"She got beautiful eyes." Mc said.

Seeing how MC was now curious to be near something she has always seen from afar, Ray offered, "Want to pet her?"

Her eyes lit up hopefully, a bit scared but excited, "Ahh sure! But where- or how?"

"Try to gently stroke from her forehead down to her back."

And so she did. With caution she took her hand over the cats' head and stroked how the spine guided her. The cat didn't seem to hate it so MC tried again. As she did, the cat turned her nose up to sniff at MC's hand, but MC quickly pulled it away.

Unsure of what that meant she looked at Ray and he smiled encouragingly, "Don't be afraid or else the cat will sense it. Beside it seems she likes what you did."

MC closed one eye and brought her hand near the cat. The cat sniffed it and encouraged MC to continue as the cat rubbed her forehead against the hand. Showing more confidence MC continued to gently stroke the cat. The calm atmosphere made both Ray and MC look at each other and they laughed softly.

''She's so soft!'' Mc smiled brightly and then the cat purred.

''Oh wow! Does this mean she likes it?'' she asked Ray innocently and he couldn't help but chuckle. He nodded and let the cat down on the ground. The cat moved softly to MC and started rubbing her leg showcasing a sign of comfort.

MC stood still stiffly but relaxed soon enough. She crouched in front of the cat and said, ''Hi. It was a surprise, but nice to meet you! I wonder what your name is.'' Cat responded with a meow and MC giggled, ''Should I call you 'meow' for now?''

MC suddenly looked up at Ray and he raised his eyebrows at the site before him. He felt a bit funny. What is it? He felt a sudden warm feeling when MC smiled up at him. Back at his place, or before the life at that place has no one ever looked up at him so innocently and joyfully.

MC spoke again cutting through the silence, ''Or I think 'Kitty' is more suitable.''

They both shifted their gaze to Kitty at the same time as she decided it was enough social interaction for now and walked back into MC's house.

''Wait- but-'' MC still didn't know what to do with a cat suddenly at her house. It seemed like she couldn't discuss it with Ray at the moment either as he started walking away.

He waved back at her, ''Sorry, I need to get back to the work I was doing.''

She stood there confused but decided to go inside. As she did, she sighed and thought how she'll handle this new situation.


End file.
